Pneumatic tire-guard.



PATBNTED MAY 17, 1904. STURTBVANT.

No. 759,932. y

PNEUMATIC TIRE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED J'ANV 13, 1904.

H0 MODEL.

vm; mums rncns no. moraurno., msuwcfon. n. c.

UNITED STATES Patented May 17, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS LEGGETT STURTEVANT, OF QUINOY, AND THOMAS J. STURTEVANT, OFWELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

PNEUMATIC TIRE-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,932, dated May 17,1904.

Application filed January 13. 1904. Serial No. 188,867. (No model.)

To (all Yl/:to'nt t may concern.'

Beit known that we,THoMAs LEGGETT STUE- TEVANT, residing at Quincy, andTHOMAS J'. S'rUR'rEvANtr, residing at Wellesley, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Massachusetts, both citizens of the United States,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic-TireGuards, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

Tt is a well-known fact that pneumatic tires in use with various kindsof Vehicles are liable to be cut or punctured by contact with sharpstones or nails, tacks, or other bits of metal in the roadways, and thisis particularly so with regard to the pneumatic tires of automobiles.

This invention has for its object to avoid .the difficulty referred toby providing drag'- ging road-brushes, arranged in front of the wheelsof the vehicles and consisting, preferably, of chains the links of whichwill mechanically push aside injurious articles orclear the tracks forthe wheels. These dragging chain-brushes or tire-guards may be made ofvarious styles, and will preferably be permanently magnetized, so thatthey will be adapted to pick up tacks or other bits of iron or steelwhich are liable to puncture the pneumatic tires.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in dotted outline anautomobile provided with one form of the improved tireguard. Figs. 2 and3 illustrate other forms of the improved tire-guard arranged to drag infront of pneumatieally-tired wheels, and Figs. L and 5 aredetail viewsof the forms of dragging tire-guards shown in Figs. Qand 3.

The form of tire-guard shown in Fig. 1 consists of a series of chains12, suspended from blocks or carriers 13, preferably arranged at anoblique angle to the direction of movement of the vehicle and in frontof the wheels thereof, so as to push aside any articles or obstaclesliable to injure the wheels of such vehicle, said block or carriersbeing' provided with any suitable shanks 15 for attachment to anyeonvenient part of the vehicle.

The tire-guards shown in Figs. 2 and l1 contheir pointed ends foremost,these winged brushes being also iiexibl y connected by chains 17 withany suitable supports on the vehicle.

All the dii'erent forms of the dragging' chain-brushes or tire-guardsshown will preferably be of iron o1' steel permanently magnetized, sothat in addition to their mechanical action in brushing aside articlesor obstacles liable to injure the pneumatic tires they will also beadapted to pick up nails, tacks, or other bits of iron or steel liableto injure such tires. These improved tire-guards, consisting' oftriangular links or winged shields, several of which will preferably bearranged to drag on the ground, are particularly efficient in theiroperation in that they are successively or cumulatively in such a waythat an article or obstacle which may escape the first of thesedragging-brushes can hardly escape them all, as the brushing action isre peated by each successive dragging-link.V

The various forms of the chain road-brushes or tire-guards herein shownand described will be preferably attached to the vehicles nonelasticallyor non-yieldingly, but somewhat weakly, so that if they should catchupon an object or obstacle with such a strong hold that the vehicle isliable to injury the attachment will be broken, and these chaintire-guards will be so arranged relative to the wheels of a vehicle thatwhen the latter is reversed in its movement they cannot get beneath thewheels of such vehicle. y They may also be arranged to guard either thefront or the rear wheels of the Vehicle, or both, although the rearwheels, which are usually the driving-wheels and which have greatesttraction on the road, are more liable to injury than the front wheels,and it is, therefore, more important that such driving-wheels should beguarded, as will be understood.

While we have herein shown our improved road-brush tire-guards asconsisting of drag'- ging-chains of various forms as being the bestembodiment of our invention, We do not Wish Ato be understood as beinglimited to chains, either for the dragging or suspending portions of ourimproved road-brush tire-guards, as the invent-ion comprises any form ofdragging eXible device to be arranged in front of pneumatically-tiredWheels, and may therefore consist of dragging -ropes, either metallic ornon-metallic, and which may or may not be provided With one or moreangular rearwardly-spreading links or drags, as 16 or 18, or of otherequivalent form. Also in-v stead of chains 17 for suspending thedragging road-brush tire-guards from the vehicles.

ropes or cords, either of metal or other material, might be employed forthis purpose.

Having thus described our invention, We claim and desireto secure byLetters Patent- 1. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or othervehicles, consisting' of a flexible device connected With a vehicle anda portion of which is arranged normally to drag on the ground in frontof the Wheel the tire of which is to be guarded.

2. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or other vehicles,consisting of a flexible device connected With the vehicle and a portionof Which is arranged to drag on the ground in front of the Wheel thetire of which is to be guarded, said road-brush tire-guard comprisingone or more rearWardly-spreading and ieXibly-connected elements.

3. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or other vehicles,consisting of a flexible device connected With the vehicle and a portionof which is arranged to drag on the ground in front of the Wheel thetire of which is to be guarded, said road-brush tire-guard comprisingone or more rearwardly-spreading and flexibly-connected magnetizedmetallic elements.

4. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or other vehicles,consisting of a chain or chains of metal, connected With avehicle, andportions of which are arranged normally to drag' on the ground in frontof the Wheel the tire of Which is to be guarded.

5. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or other vehicles,consisting of a chain or chains of metal, portions of which are arrangedto drag on the ground in front ofthe Wheel the'tire of which is to beguarded, said chain or chains being permanently magnetized so as to beadapted to pick up nails, tacks, &c., liable to injure or puncture'pneumatic tires. ,Y

6. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or other vehicles,consisting of a chain o1. chains of metal, portions of which arearranged to drag onthe ground in front of the Wheel the tire of which isto be guarded, the dragging portions of said tire-guarding chain orchains consisting' of triangular or Winged links attached together andarranged to drag With their pointed ends foremost.

7. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or other vehicles,consisting of a plurality of rearwardly-spreading and flexibly-connectedroad-brushing links or elements arranged to drag' on the ground in frontof a Wheel and flexibly suspended from the vehicle.`

8. A road-brush tire-guard, for automobiles or other vehicles,consisting of a plurality of rearwardly-spreading and flexibly-connectedroad-brushing links or elements arranged to drag' on the ground in frontof a Wheel andA flexibly suspended from the vehicle, said roadbrushing'links or elements being of magnetized metal.

In testimony whereof We aiiiX our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

THOMAS LEGGETT STURTEVANT. THOHAS J. STURTEVANT. lNitnesses:

lll. T. ELLIS,

RUBERT M. GAY.

